5.02.2016

Trump says China is "raping our country."

At this point, there is pretty much nothing Donald Trump can say that will surprise us. So why should we be surprised that the Republican presidential candidate compared the U.S.'s trade deficit with China to rape?

"We can't continue to allow China to rape our country, and that's what they're doing," Trump said Sunday during a rally in Indiana, referring to China's high number of exports relative to the United States.

The anti-China rhetoric is not much of a shocker -- this is an election, after all. Xenophobic China-bashing is a major part of the campaign playbook. And everybody knows that Trump loves to talk about China.

Might as well throw a sexual violence metaphor on top of all the fear-mongering.

Advocates were quick to criticize Trump's comments.

"When you use a violent and heinous crime like rape as a metaphor, it is an affront to all sexual assault survivors," said Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who introduced the International Violence Against Women Act and has campaigned vigorously to address rape on college campuses. "Donald Trump should find another way to express himself," she told The Huffington Post.

"Using the word 'rape' to describe anything other than sexual violence trivializes the experience of survivors," added Colleen Daly, a spokeswoman for the group End Rape on Campus. "The statement perpetuates our cultural indifference to rape and desensitizes us to all forms of sexual violence."

This isn't first time the Republican frontrunner has spoken flippantly about rape. When past allegations about assaulting his ex-wife resurfaced last year, Trump's attorney said "you can't rape your spouse." In reality, according to official data, over half of all women who report being raped identify their partner as the attacker.

Trump's usual go-to line about China on the campaign trail has been that "they're killing us," though CNN notes that Trump also previously claimed in 2011 that "China is raping this country" while touring a defense manufacturer in New Hampshire. Absolutely none of this surprises anyone.

Do people need reminding that this guy is running of President of the United States?